The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1887-09-22

honorably discharged from the army, he was
admitted and tarried during the night In
the nighttime there was a knocking at the
front door, and two ruiilans broke in to de-
come over the door sill than the armed guest,
who had primed his piece and charged it
with slugs, met them, and telling the woman
to stand back, am happy to say, dropped
the two aSsaulting desperadoes dead at his
feet Well, now there are no bandits proving
around to destroy our houses; but how often
it is that we find those that have been our
shelter first, and then afterwards in the great
conflicts Of life they fought for our repu-
tation; they fought for our property; they
fought for our soul.
Another reward that comes from Christian
hospitality ia in the assurance that we shall
have hospitality shown to us and to ours. In
the up.turnings of this life. who knows Id
what city or what land we may be thrown,
and how much we may need an open doorl
There may come no such crisis to us, but our
children may be thrown into some such
strait. He who is in Christian manner hos
pitable has free pass through all Christen-
dom. 1t may be that you will have been
dead fifty years before any such stress shall
come upon one of your descendants; but do
YOU not suppose that God can remember
fifty yearsl And the knuckle OF the grand
child will be heard against the door OF some
stranger and that door will open; and IL VIII
be talked over in heaven, and it Will be sald'
"That mans grandfather, fifty years ago,
gave shelter to stranger, and now
strangers door is open for grandson.
Among the Greeks, after entertaining ana
being entertained, they take piece OF lead
and cut it in two, and the host takes one-ha!f
of the piece Of lead and the guest the other
half as they part. These two pieces OF lead
are handed down from generation to genera
ton, and from family to family; and after
awhile perhaps one of tho families in want OF
in trouble go out with this one piece of lead
and find the other family with the CORE
spending piece of lead, and no sooner is the
tally completed than the old hospitality is
aroused, and eternal friendship pledged. SO
the memory of Christian hospitality will go
down from generation to generation, and
from family to family, and the tally will
never be lost, neither in this world nor the
world to come.
Mark this: the day will come when we will
all be turned out-of-doors, without any ex-
ception--bare foot, bare-head, no water in
the canteen, no bread in the haversack, and
we will go in that way into the future world.
And l wonder if eternal hospitalities will
open before us, and if we will be received
into everlasting habitations? Francis Fres-
cobad was a rich Italian, and he was very
perciful and very hospitable. One day an
Englishman by the name of Thomas Crom-
well appeared at his door asking for
| shelter and aims, which were cheerfully
rendered. Frescobald afterward lost all his
| property, became very poor, and wandered
up into England; and one day he saw pro-
cession passing, an 10! it was the Lord Chan
cellor of England; and 10! the Lord Chancel'
lor of England was Thomas Cromwell, the
very man whom he had once befrended in
Italy. The Lord Chancellor at the first glance
of Frescobald, recognized him, and dis
| I,
around him, embraced him paid his debts,
invited him to his house, and said:
"Here are ten pieces of money to pay for the
| bread you gave me, and here are ten pieces of
money to provide for the horse you loaned
me, and here are four bags, in each of which
are four hundred ducats. Take them and be
we'll" So it will be at last with us. If we
entertain Christ in the person of His disciples
in this world, when we pass up into the next
country, we will meet Christ in regal pro-
cession, and He will pour all the wealth
of heaven into our lap, and open before
us everlasting inequalities And 0, how
tame are the richest entertainments we can
give on earth compared with the regal mu-
nificence which Christ will display before our
souls in heaven! l was reading the account
which Thomas Fuller gives of the entertain
ment provided by George Neville. Among
other things for that banquet they had thres
hundred quarters of wheat, one hundred and
| four tuns OF wine, eighty oxen, three tnou
sand capons, two hundred cranes, two hun
dred kids, four thousand pigeons, four thou
sand rabbits, two hundred and four bitterns,
two hundred pheasants, five hundred
cartridges, four hundred plover, one
hundred quail, one hundred curlews, fifteen
hundred hot pasties, four thousand cold ven
ison pasties, four thousand custards-the Earl
of Warwick acting as steward-and servitors
one thousand o, what a grand feast was
that! But then compare it with the provision
which God has made for us on high: that
great banquet hour; the one hundred and
forty and four thousand guests; all the harps
and trumpets of heaven as the orchestra; the
vintage of the celestial hills poured into the
tankards; all the fruits of the orchards of
God piled on the golden platters; the angels
of the Lord tor cup-bearers, and the once
folded starry banner of the blue sky flung
out over the scene, while seated at the head
of the table shall be the One who eighteen
centuries ago declared: II was stranger
and We took Ne in" Our sins pardoned
may we all mingle in those hosptalities!